Rich Franklin
! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; color:#000000; background-color:#dcdcdc"|' ' |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%; color:#000000; background-color:#dcdcdc"| Personal information |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Nickname |"Ace" |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Born | Cincinnati, Ohio |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Nationality | American |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Listed hieght |6 ft 1 in |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Listed weight | 203 lbs |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%; color:#000000; background-color:#dcdcdc"| Career information |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Division | Light heavyweight |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Style | Kickboxing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Stance |Southpaw |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Fights out of | Cincinnati, Ohio |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Team |Team Extreme |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Years active | 1999-present |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%; color:#000000; background-color:#dcdcdc"| Mixed martial arts record |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Wins | 28 |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Losses | 6 |- ! colspan="1" style="text-align: left;" | Draws |0 |} Rich Jay Franklin II (born October 5, 1974 , in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion. Biography Prior to becoming a full time MMA fighter, Franklin graduated from William Henry Harrison High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and later earned a master's degree in education at the University of Cincinnati, and taught mathematics at the Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Franklin and American Fighter President Jeff Adler created The Keep It In The Ring Foundation to advocate non-violence and build character in youth. This is done through after school sports, martial arts and life skills programs. His nickname "Ace" comes from his resemblance to Jim Carrey, who played the character Ace Ventura. Joe Rogan once called him "An angry Jim Carrey". Franklin made his acting debut in a film called Cyborg Soldier where he plays an escaped super soldier and partners with Tiffani Thiessen. Franklin is a born-again Christian and quotes Psalm 144:1 on his webpage and fighter gear. February 21, 2006, was officially named "Rich Franklin Day" in Cincinnati by the city's mayor. He tested as a "Celtic Warrior" by Warrior Roots. Martial arts background According to Rich, he first learned submission fighting from instructional video tapes. He has been associated with and trained with Meat Truck Inc. and currently trains at facilities run by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, (New Generation Martial Arts); Neal Rowe, a Muay Thai instructor (Sacan Martial Arts); and Rob Radford, a boxing instructor (Boxing 4 Fitness). Franklin is currently ranked as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jorge Gurgel. Since losing his title to Anderson Silva, Franklin has started training under Matt "The Wizard" Hume. UFC career Middleweight title Franklin began his UFC career with a perfect 4-0 start, including victories over veterans such as Evan Tanner and Ken Shamrock. The latter of the two victories ensured a title opportunity for Franklin. This title shot came at UFC 53 on June 5, 2005. Franklin defeated Evan Tanner for a second time to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. The victory led to him being a coach (along with welterweight champion Matt Hughes) on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 56 on November 19, 2005, Franklin defended his title against Nate Quarry, a competitor from season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin won the fight via knockout in the first round. At UFC 58 on March 4, 2006, Franklin defeated David Loiseau in a unanimous five round decision to retain his title. Franklin broke his left hand early on in the second round. The injury required surgery, including a metal plate and screws and Franklin was out of action for seven months. Losing the title At UFC 64 On October 14, 2006, Franklin lost his title on his return fight after being defeated by Brazilian Anderson Silva. The fight was stopped at 2:49 of the first round after Franklin received a knee to the face. On October 19, 2006 Franklin underwent surgery due to the nasal fracture he received in his fight against Silva. At UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, Rich Franklin defeated Jason MacDonald by TKO due to MacDonald's corner throwing in the towel in the break between rounds two and three. Franklin had mounted MacDonald in the closing seconds of the second round, causing significant injury and swelling around MacDonald's left eye. MacDonald's corner advised ending the fight and Franklin was declared the winner. After the fight Franklin called Anderson Silva to the Octagon and said that he and Dana White had agreed to a fight for the title in Franklin's hometown, Cincinnati. At UFC 72 on June 16, 2007 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Franklin defeated top middleweight contender Yushin Okami to be announced the official number one contender for Anderson Silva's middleweight championship. The bout was only Franklin's second overall fight that went the full distance (due to being a non-title fight, it was three rounds). All three judges scored the bout 29–28 to Franklin. Franklin was the first person to main event a UFC show in Northern Ireland. At UFC 77 on October 20, 2007, Franklin faced Anderson Silva in a rematch for the middleweight championship, losing by TKO (Strikes) in the second round. Franklin had recently signed a new 6 fight contract with the UFC. At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, Franklin defeated Travis Lutter via TKO (Strikes) at 3:01 of Round 2. This was despite Lutter locking in a tight armbar. Franklin exhibited a high level armbar submission escape, made even more impressive because Lutter is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. At UFC 88 on September 6, 2008, Franklin made his return to the light heavyweight division by defeating Matt Hamill by TKO with a kick to the liver. At UFC 93 on January 17, 2009, in Dublin, Ireland, Franklin fought against former PRIDE Fighting Championships 183 lb. and 205 lb. champion Dan Henderson. He lost the fight by split decision to Dan Henderson. Henderson, in beating Franklin, won the opportunity to be the coach of Team USA on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin was the first person to main event a UFC show in the Republic of Ireland. At UFC 99: The Comeback, on June 13, 2009, in Cologne, Germany, Franklin defeated former PRIDE Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision at a catchweight (195 lb) bout. Franklin became the first person in UFC history to fight in four different countries, in four consecutive fights. At UFC 103 on September 19, 2009, in Dallas, Texas, Franklin fought against Vitor Belfort for Belfort's first fight in the UFC since February 2005. Franklin lost the fight via KO (Punches) at 3:02 in Round 1. Rich Franklin was expected to face former UFC Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 115, but will instead fight Chuck Liddell at UFC Fight Night 22 as a replacement for Tito Ortizhttp://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Liddell-Franklin-Slated-White-Issues-Denial-23199. This has since been refuted by UFC president Dana White who says the Couture fight is still on. Personal life Rich has a wife named Beth who is a former English teacher at Reading High School. MMA Record References External links *Official website *Team American Fighter official Myspace de:Rich Franklin ja:リッチ・フランクリン no:Rich Franklin pl:Rich Franklin pt:Rich Franklin sv:Rich Franklin uk:Річ Франклін Category:1974 births Category:American mixed martial artists Category:Living people Category:Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Category:People from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:American schoolteachers Category:American Christians Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:University of Cincinnati alumni Category:mixed martial artists from Ohio